A STRIKE by workers in the transport sector halted a large part of rail traffic this morning, and the decision to stop work is the result of demands for a significant wage increase in response to the constant rise in prices.

Workers in the air transport sector are also on strike, affecting airports in Hamburg, Cologne/Bonn, Dusseldorf, Stuttgart and Karlsruhe/Baden-Baden Airport.

The strike did not disrupt traffic in Frankfurt

The main airport in Frankfurt was not affected by the strike. The EVG railway workers' union announced that the strike began at three o'clock in the morning.

The state railway company, Deutsche Bahn (DB), expects long-distance trains to start operating around one o'clock in the afternoon, but also that the disruption to traffic will continue into the evening hours. EVG has been negotiating on behalf of 230,000 employees, 180,000 of whom are at DB, since the end of February.

The strike at the airports was called by the Verdi union. This is the second strike by railway workers seeking a pay rise of 650 euros for the lowest-paid and a 12 percent pay rise for those with higher salaries at DB.

“The strike will hit people who commute by train hard”

One of DB's leading figures, Martin Seiler, said that the strike would hit people who use trains to get to work hard and accused EVG of having completely lost its sense of proportion and of only seeking conflict.

DB and EVG will hold the second round of talks on Tuesday. EVG and Verdi joined forces when they called the strike on March 27. At that time, rail and air traffic were simultaneously paralyzed for several hours.

Source: index.hr